$50,000 in grants to support African American education

Called the African American Initiative, the program will award up to $50,000 in grants to eligible nonprofits in its first grant round since its November 2013 launch.

To apply, nonprofits must be collaborating with another organization to serve participants who all identify as black. Applying agencies must also have on each board at least one black member, said Barbara Brown, the vice president of program services and community initiatives for the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. As foundation staff, Brown serves in an advisory role to the African American Initiative board.

“They want to make sure that African American individuals are included in all the wonderful programs that go on, particularly in the area of education,” Brown said. “That’s important. That’s the key. That population is quite dispersed.”

For the last year, the program’s board has examined the needs of the community, gathering input that ultimately led to the emphasis on education. This first grant round will further hone understanding of community needs and solutions for potential grants in the future, Brown said.

“That’s the beauty of it, in my opinion,” said Joseph Blair, the chair of the African American Initiative. This process will highlight a variety of organizations and “what type of education they can provide, and what they deem to be important.”

“What we’re hoping to do is get organizations working together and thinking together,” Blair said.

To raise the $50,000, the Community Foundation matched $25,000 in donations to the African American Initiative. The program is also fundraising to establish a permanent endowment of $1 million. So far, the program has raised $250,000, Brown said.

This grant round will award applicants up to $10,000 and notify grantees by early summer. Applying organizations must send a representative to a mandatory workshop 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, or 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10. Reservations are required. The deadline to apply is 4 p.m. March 10.

See cfsaz.org/partner/african-american-initiative for additional application guidelines and dates.